Youth Veterinarian Initiative

Etoile Academy - Trip to Downtown Aquarium

Etoile Academy students (L to R): Daniel, Katherine, Heidi, Maryam, Genesis, and Jeremiah

HOUSTON’S DOWNTOWN AQUARIUM

Ever since we held our 2023 International Business Women’s Day luncheon at the Downtown Aquarium, I wanted WIF to organize a visit to the aquarium for the Etoile Academy students who participated in the YVI Book Club & Merit Badge Program during the 2022-2023 school year.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, we were able to arrange a visit on May 29, 2024.

Here are several images of the aquarium that I took when I visited the aquarium in January 2024 to investigate the possibilities for the field trip.

The aquarium has reptiles, amphibians, and mammals as well as sea creatures!

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Fishes and coral reef_600px wide

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SQUIDY ANATOMY

Etoile Academy students were welcomed by Downtown Aquarium staff members Rakayla Robertson and Dylan Babb, who conducted the squid anatomy dissection session.

EXHIBIT TOUR

After the anatomy lesson, the students toured the aquarium exhibits and visited the amusement park.

COLORING AFTER THE VISIT

To cement what they learned at the aquarium, the students colored sea creatures in a coloring book created especially for the field trip. This exercise furnished the “A” in this STEAM Education adventure!

Kristen Ray, the Etoile Academy educator who accompanied the students on the field trip, shared the following about the experience:

“You have inspired some of our students to want to become surgeons. They asked SO many questions and truly had a wonderful time. This was a great bunch of students to attend.”